Funfetti Cake Doughnuts

I have to say, this has been one of the craziest weeks. I’ve been at my new job for two months, and it has been so much more eventful than I thought it would be. Plus we’ve got a lot of Birmingham Bloggers events and plans in the works, which is so exciting!

But today we’re celebrating Friday. And the weekend. And that one of my best friends from college is moving to town (!!!). And for finally getting thermal curtains for my apartment. (It was 8 degrees in Alabama at one point this week?) And sprinkles, of course.

You might remember last spring I introduced Funfetti Fridays on the blog. I was like, “I’m going to do this every other week!” And then it lasted for about a month. I think I did two posts. But in 2015, I’m serious. I am dead serious about Funfetti Fridays, you guys. This year, I’m trying this thing where I plan out all my posts for the month, while kind of knowing it’s a rough guideline. Naturally, I immediately screwed up the first week when I decided to go on a smoothie binge, but that just opens up more days for sweets.

2015 is about more planning and time management! (lol)

These doughnuts make me really happy. I’d been wanting to make them for awhile, but the thought of dough and rolling it out, and then a giant pot of hot oil and frying things…I just kept putting it off. I always forget that frying–after getting over the smell–is kind of exciting in a way. I know that sounds totally bizarre, but it’s kind of a cool process to watch a little ring of dough float in some sizzling oil for a couple of minutes, and come out as a warm and fluffy doughnut. Super magical.

Honestly, I tried really hard to do a baked version of these, but they are just not meant for that. Doughnuts are for frying!

Once I got over the baked doughnut thing, I really wanted to make an old fashioned cake version. A classic, you know? These are not to be confused with doughnuts that are really just cake batter poured in a doughnut pan. This recipe makes a dough, and it’s pretty soft and sticky, so it sets in the fridge for awhile. Then you roll it out, cut out your cute, little doughnuts, and then gently drop them into 360 degree oil. They take longer and they’re not “healthier,” but if you’re going to splurge on doughnuts, this is the way to go!

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, baking soda, and salt. Set this bowl aside.

In another bowl (a stand mixer comes in handy here), beat eggs on medium speed with an electric mixer until frothy. Add the sugar and mix well.

In a cup or bowl, stir together the wet ingredients: milk, melted butter, vanilla, and butter flavoring. Add half of the dry ingredients and half of the wet ingredients to the egg/sugar mixture. Mix until combined. Add the the second half of the dry and wet ingredients, and also add in the sprinkles. Mix until fully incorporated!

Cover the bowl and let the dough sit in the refrigerator for about an hour. Letting the dough stiffen up will make it easier to cut out the doughnuts.

After an hour, fill a heavy-bottomed pot with about two inches of oil. Clip a candy thermometer to the pot and turn to medium low heat. While the oil is heating up, divide the dough into two or three sections. I find it a little easier to work with the dough in smaller portions. Plus, you can roll out one section and keep the other two in the fridge so they don't get too warm. Keeping the dough cold will make rolling it out/cutting out shapes much easier. Also when rolling out the dough, make sure you're working on a WELL FLOURED surface. Because this dough is soft and sticky, you need that flour to keep it from clinging to your work surface.

Once the oil has reached 360 degrees, gently drop one or two doughnuts into the oil. I usually do two at a time. The dough will look like it's sinking at first, but once it starts to cook a little, it will float to the top. Let the doughnuts cook for about a minute to a minute-and-a-half on each side. They should be a light golden brown color. (I cooked mine a little too long, so they're darker in the photos.) Use a slotted spoon to lift the doughnuts out of the oil and set them on a drying rack with a few layers of paper towels underneath.

(During this process, I would roll out more dough and cutting out doughnuts while the doughnuts were cooking, but you could also cut out all of your doughnuts beforehand and keep them in the fridge until ready to fry.)

glaze:

When the doughnuts are mostly cool/slightly warm, whisk together all ingredients (except for sprinkles) in a bowl, and pour sprinkles in another bowl. Dip a few doughnuts into the glaze, and then go back and dip them in sprinkles. The sprinkles will stick a little better if you let the glaze set a little. If you immediately dip the glazed doughnut in sprinkles, the sprinkles could slide right off the edges.

Let the glaze/sprinkles set for a few minutes, then enjoy! You can also warm these up a little the next day or if you have leftovers.

Notes

*Butter flavoring can usually be found where all the extracts are sold at grocery stores.

Recipe frombethcakes. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without permission. If you would like to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.